go to the
little village of Gentryville, near by, to spend an evening. He would
tell so many jokes and so many funny stories, that all the people would
gather round him to listen.

When he was sixteen years old he went one day to Booneville, fifteen
miles away, to attend a trial in court. He had never been in court
before. He listened with great attention to all that was said. When the
lawyer for the defense made his speech, the youth was so full of delight
that he could not contain himself.

He arose from his seat, walked across the courtroom, and shook hands
with the lawyer. "That was the best speech I ever heard," he said.

He was tall and very slim; he was dressed in a jeans coat and buckskin
trousers; his feet were bare. It must have been a strange sight to see
him thus complimenting an old and practiced lawyer.

From that time, one ambition seemed to fill his mind. He wanted to be a
lawyer and make great speeches in court. He walked twelve miles
barefooted, to borrow a copy of the laws of Indiana. Day and night he
read and studied.

"Some day I shall be President of the United States," he said to some of
his young friends. And this he said not as a joke, but in the firm
belief that it would prove to be true.

* * * * *

VI.--THE BOATMAN.

One of Thomas Lincoln's friends owned a ferry-boat on the Ohio River. It
was nothing but a small rowboat, and would carry only three or four
people at a time. This man wanted to employ some one to take care of his
boat and to ferry people across the river.

Thomas Lincoln was in need of money; and so he arranged with his friend
for Abraham to do this work. The wages of the young man were to be $2.50
a week. But all the money was to be his father's.

One day two strangers came to the landing. They wanted to take passage
on a steamboat that was coming down the river. The ferry-boy signalled
to the steamboat and it stopped in midstream. Then the boy rowed out
with the two passengers, and they were taken on board.

Just as he was turning towards the shore again, each of the strangers
tossed a half-dollar into his boat. He picked the silver up and looked
at it. Ah, how rich he felt! He had never had so much money at one time.
And he had gotten all for a few minutes' labor!

When winter came on, there were fewer people who wanted to cross the
river. So, at last, the ferry-boat was tied up, and Abraham Lincoln went
back to his father's ho